Method of increasing contact lens rotation

Abstract

A contact lens (101) for preventing or slowing the progression or worsening of myopia, and methods of making and using the lens (101). The optical zone (102) of the lens includes a central region (105) having a base power. The optical zone (102) includes an annular region (103) circumferentially surrounding the central region (105). The annular region (103) includes a treatment zone (107) having a property that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through the central region (105) and the treatment zone as compared to an image of the object formed by light passing through only the central region (105). The property causing the reduction in contrast varies with meridians around the annular region (103). A peripheral zone (104) surrounding the annular region (103) has a constant thickness profile or a thickness variation configured to promote rotation of the lens (101) in each meridian.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to contact lenses for preventing or slowing the progression or worsening of myopia by increasing contact lens rotation. This disclosure also relates to methods of manufacturing such lenses and methods of using such lenses. Background Technology

[0002] Myopia (short-sightedness) affects many people, including children and adults. Myopic eyes focus incident light from distant objects in front of the retina. Therefore, the light converges and diverges towards a plane in front of the retina and becomes out of focus by the time it reaches the retina. Conventional eyeglasses used to correct myopia (e.g., spectacle lenses and contact lenses) reduce convergence (for contact lenses) or cause incident light from distant objects to diverge before reaching the eye (for spectacle lenses), shifting the focal point to the retina.

[0003] Decades ago, it was proposed that undercorrection—that is, moving the focal point towards but not completely onto the retina—could slow or prevent the progression of myopia in children or young adults. However, this method inevitably leads to a decline in farsightedness compared to vision achieved with fully corrective glasses. Furthermore, the effectiveness of undercorrection in controlling developing myopia is now questionable. A more recent approach involves providing glasses with both a fully corrected area providing farsighted vision and an undercorrected area, or an area intentionally designed to cause myopic defocus. Glasses that increase light scattering in specific areas compared to light passing through a fully corrected area can also be provided. These methods have been proposed to prevent or slow the development or progression of myopia in children or young adults while providing good farsighted vision.

[0004] In the case of eyeglasses with areas that provide defocus, the area that provides full correction for hyperopia is usually referred to as the primary refractive power area, and the area that provides undercorrection or intentionally causes myopic defocus is usually referred to as the supplementary refractive power area or myopic defocus area (because its refractive power is more positive or less negative than that of the hyperopic refractive power area). The surface of (a few) supplementary refractive power areas (usually the anterior surface) has a radius of curvature smaller than that of (a few) hyperopic refractive power areas and therefore provides more positive or less negative refractive power to the eye. (A few) supplementary refractive power areas are designed to focus incident parallel light (i.e., light from a distance) in front of the retina (i.e., closer to the eyeglasses), while (a few) hyperopic refractive power areas are designed to focus light and form an image at the retina (i.e., farther from the eyeglasses).

[0005] In the case of eyeglasses that increase the scattering of light in a specific area, features that increase scattering can be introduced into the surface of the eyeglasses or into the material used to form the eyeglasses. For example, scattering elements can be fused into the eyeglasses.

[0006] One known type of contact lens for reducing the progression of myopia is the bifocal contact lens, purchased under the name MISIGHT (CooperVision, Inc.). This bifocal lens differs from bifocal or multifocal contact lenses configured to improve presbyopia because it is configured with specific optical dimensions to allow the adaptable individual to use hyperopic correction (i.e., basic refractive power) to see both distant and near objects. The treatment zone of the bifocal lens with additional refractive power also provides a myopic defocused image at both far and near viewing distances.

[0007] While these glasses have been found to be beneficial in preventing or slowing the development or worsening of myopia, the annular additional refractive power zone can cause unwanted visual side effects. Light focused by the annular additional refractive power zone in front of the retina diverges from the focal point to form a defocusing ring at the retina. Therefore, wearers of these glasses may see a ring or "halo" around the image formed on the retina, particularly small, bright objects such as streetlights and car headlights. Furthermore, theoretically, wearers could use the additional focal point in front of the retina generated by the annular additional refractive power zone to focus nearby objects, rather than using the eye's natural adaptation (i.e., the eye's instinct to change focus); in other words, wearers might inadvertently use these glasses in the same way as they would with presbyopia correction glasses, which is not desirable for younger subjects.

[0008] Further eyeglasses have been developed for the treatment of myopia and designed to eliminate the halos observed around the focused distance image in MISIGHT (Cooper Optics) glasses and other similar glasses described above. In these glasses, the annular region is configured such that no single coaxial image is formed in front of the retina, thereby preventing the need to use this image to avoid the eye's adaptation to near targets. Instead, the distant light source is imaged through the annular region onto the annular focal line at the near additional refractive power focal plane, resulting in a small spot size of light at the distance focal plane without the surrounding "halo" effect on the retina.

[0009] It is known that over time, the eye can adapt to compensate for the myopic defocus or light scattering characteristics provided in eyeglasses. This may reduce the effectiveness of eyeglasses designed to slow the progression of myopia. This disclosure seeks to address this problem and to provide eyeglasses for young subjects to prevent or slow the progression of myopia. Summary of the Invention

[0010] According to a first aspect, this disclosure provides a contact lens for preventing or slowing the development or worsening of myopia. The lens includes an optical zone and a peripheral zone surrounding the optical zone. The optical zone includes a central region having a first optical axis and a curvature centered on a center of curvature along the first optical axis, providing a fundamental refractive power. The optical zone includes an annular region circumferentially surrounding the central region. The annular region includes a treatment zone having a characteristic that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region. The contrast-reducing characteristic varies with the meridians surrounding the annular region. The peripheral region has a constant thickness profile in each meridian or is configured to facilitate thickness variations for rotation of the lens.

[0011] According to a second aspect, this disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a contact lens. The method includes forming a contact lens comprising an optical region and a peripheral region. The optical region includes a central region having a first optical axis and a curvature providing fundamental refractive power centered on a center of curvature along the first optical axis. The optical region includes an annular region circumferentially surrounding the central region. The annular region includes a treatment region having a characteristic that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through the central region and the treatment region compared to an image of an object formed by light passing through the central region. The contrast-reducing characteristic varies with meridians surrounding the annular region. The peripheral region has a constant thickness profile in each meridian or is configured to facilitate thickness variations for rotation of the lens.

[0012] According to a third aspect, this disclosure provides a method for reducing the progression of myopia. The method includes providing a myopic individual with a multifocal ophthalmic lens according to the first aspect, capable of adapting to varying near distances.

[0013] It should be understood that features described with respect to one aspect of this disclosure may be incorporated into other aspects of this disclosure. For example, the methods of this disclosure may be incorporated into features described with reference to the apparatus of this disclosure, and vice versa. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram showing the decrease of modulation transfer function (MTF) with spatial frequency for non-parallax glasses without additional refractive power area and glasses including annular additional refractive power area;

[0015] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram showing the field of vision of an eye divided into quadrants;

[0016] Figure 3This is a schematic top view of eyeglasses with a constant peripheral zone thickness for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 4(a) is a schematic top view of a pair of glasses with a peripheral zone having a seed-shaped droop for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view along line YY of one of the seed-shaped weights in Figure 4(a);

[0019] Figure 5(a) is a schematic top view of a pair of glasses with a peripheral zone having a prism-shaped weight for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 5(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view along line YY of one of the prism-shaped weights in Figure 5(a).

[0021] Figure 6(a) is a schematic top view of eyeglasses having a peripheral region including a continuous ring providing a variable thickness profile for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 6(b) is a graph showing the thickness variation of the portion of the continuous ring around the outer region in Figure 6(a);

[0023] Figure 7(a) is a schematic top view of glasses with a peripheral area having a thickness that varies in the radial direction for mitigating the deterioration of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 7(b) is a schematic cross-section taken along line XX of one of the weights in Figure 7(a);

[0025] Figure 7(c) is a schematic cross-section taken along line YY of one of the weights in Figure 7(a);

[0026] Figure 8(a) is a schematic top view of a pair of glasses with a peripheral zone comprising a plurality of concentric zones for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each concentric zone having a seed-shaped weight.

[0027] Figure 8(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken from one of the seed-shaped weights in Figure 8(a);

[0028] Figure 9 This is a schematic top view of glasses with a ring-shaped area including multiple treatment zones for slowing the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 10This is a schematic top view of glasses with a peripheral area including multiple treatment zones containing scattering elements for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 11(a) is a schematic top view of a pair of glasses with a peripheral zone including multiple treatment zones having curvature that provides additional refractive power for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 11(b) is a schematic ray diagram of the optical zone of the eyeglasses in Figure 11(a) taken along line AA;

[0032] Figure 12(a) is a schematic top view of an eyeglass with a peripheral area including a plurality of treatment areas having curvatures that provide additional refractive power, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the center of curvature of the treatment areas is offset from a first optical axis;

[0033] Figure 12(b) is a schematic ray diagram of the optical zone of the glasses in Figure 12(a), taken along line BB, showing the radius of curvature of the central and treatment zones;

[0034] Figure 12(c) is a further schematic ray diagram of the optical zone of the eyeglasses in Figure 12(a) taken along line BB. Detailed Implementation

[0035] According to a first aspect, this disclosure provides a contact lens for preventing or slowing the development or worsening of myopia. The lens includes an optical zone and a peripheral zone surrounding the optical zone. The optical zone includes a central region having a first optical axis and a curvature centered on a center of curvature along the first optical axis, providing a fundamental refractive power. The optical zone includes an annular region circumferentially surrounding the central region. The annular region includes a treatment zone having a characteristic that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region. The characteristic causing the contrast reduction varies along meridians. The peripheral zone has a constant thickness profile in each meridian or is configured to facilitate thickness variations for rotation of the lens.

[0036] As used herein, the term contact lens refers to an ophthalmic lens that can be placed on the anterior surface of the eye. It should be understood that this contact lens will provide clinically acceptable on-ocular movement and will not be confined to one or both eyes of a person. Contact lenses may be in the form of corneal lenses (e.g., lenses that rest on the cornea of ​​the eye). Contact lenses may be soft contact lenses, such as hydrogel contact lenses or silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

[0037] The contact lens according to this disclosure includes an optical zone. The optical zone encompasses the optically functional portion of the lens. The optical zone is configured to be positioned above the pupil of the eye during use. For the contact lens according to this disclosure, the optical zone includes a central region and a ring-shaped region surrounding the central region and including a therapeutic area.

[0038] In this disclosure, the annular region is a generally annular region surrounding the optical region. The annular region may have a generally circular or generally elliptical shape. The annular region may completely surround the optical region. The annular region may partially surround the optical region.

[0039] The treatment area has the property of reducing the contrast of the image formed by light passing through the glasses compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central region of the glasses. In other words, the treatment area causes a reduction in the contrast of the image formed by light that has already passed through the glasses compared to an image formed by light passing through the same glasses without the treatment area. The treatment area may include contrast-reducing features disposed on the surface of the glasses. These features may cause additional light scattering compared to light passing through the remaining portion of the annular region and the central region. The features may cause light to diffract differently compared to light passing through the remaining portion of the annular region and the central region. The treatment area may have a curvature that refracts light differently to the remaining portion of the annular region and the central region, thereby reducing the contrast of the image formed by light passing through the glasses.

[0040] The treatment area may be a continuous area. The treatment area may span less than half of the annular region. The treatment area may span less than a quarter of the annular region. The annular region may include multiple treatment areas. Contrast reduction may vary across the treatment areas of the glasses. The boundary between any of the treatment areas and the remainder of the annular region may be a sharp boundary or a smooth boundary. A blending zone may exist at the boundary between each treatment area and the remainder of the annular region. The blending zone may have characteristics that cause a decrease in contrast of the image formed by light passing through the glasses compared to the image formed by light passing through the central region of the glasses. The characteristics may vary and may dissipate in their contrast reduction effect as they move from the treatment area to the annular region. For example, if the treatment area has curvature that provides additional refractive power, then the blending zone between the treatment area and the remainder of the annular region may have a gradual change in curvature and may result in a gradual decrease in additional refractive power across the region. If the treatment area includes features that increase light scattering, then the blending zone between the treatment area and the remainder of the annular region may contain features that increase scattering, but the density of these features may vary across the blending zone.

[0041] The contrast reduction of an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region can be quantified using a modulation transfer function (MTF) compared to an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment area.

[0042] Eyeglasses cannot perfectly reproduce the contrast in an image of an object formed by the eyeglasses. The modulation transfer function (MTF) of a given pair of eyeglasses measures the ability of the eyeglasses to transfer contrast from an object to an image of that object at a specific resolution, and can be derived from the Fourier transform of point or line spread functions. MTF can be measured using a test object (the object to be imaged) with black and white line pairs. As the line spacing of the test object decreases (i.e., as the black and white line pairs get closer, i.e., as the spatial frequency increases), the line spread functions of the black lines begin to overlap, and therefore the difference between the black lines and their background decreases in the image, and the MTF decreases.

[0043] For eyeglasses according to embodiments of this disclosure, the presence of the treatment area reduces the MTF (and therefore contrast) of the image formed by light passing through both the treatment area and the central area, compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central area. This may be referenced. Figure 1 To better understand, as shown by curve A (dashed line), for parallax-free glasses without an additional refractive power region, the MTF decreases according to spatial frequency variations. For glasses with an optical region containing a ring-shaped area with additional refractive power, additional modulation is introduced into the MTF, as shown by curve B.

[0044] The eye's field of vision can be divided into quadrants, such as Figure 2 As shown, these quadrants can also be used to describe the quadrants when the contact lens is positioned on the eye. The upper half of the eye / lens is the superior half 1001, and the lower half is the inferior half 1003. The field of view closest to the nose is the nasal half 1005, and the field of view farthest from the nose is the temporal half 1007. The four quadrants can therefore be defined as superior nasal 1009, superior temporal 1011, inferior nasal 1013, and inferior temporal 1015. In the following description, these definitions will be used to describe the location of the additional refractive power area and the thickness variation that will occur in the peripheral area when the lens is in normal use and worn by the wearer.

[0045] The optical zone is surrounded by a peripheral zone. An edge zone may surround the peripheral zone. The peripheral zone is not part of the optical zone, but is located outside the optical zone and above the iris when the glasses are worn, and provides a mechanical function, such as increasing the size of the glasses, thereby making the glasses easier to handle, or providing a shaped area to improve the comfort of the glasses wearer. The peripheral zone may extend to the edge of the contact lens. In known contact lenses, such as toroidal lenses, the peripheral zone provides sag to prevent the glasses from rotating about the optical axis when worn by the wearer. This disclosure relates to a contact lens designed to rotate on the eye, and in embodiments of this disclosure, the peripheral zone has a constant thickness profile or a thickness profile configured to facilitate rotation of the glasses. In embodiments where the peripheral zone has a constant thickness in each meridian, the peripheral zone will not provide a sag effect and therefore the glasses will rotate about the optical axis in response to rotational forces when worn by the wearer. In these embodiments, the thickness variation is the same in each meridian. The thickness profile may vary along the meridian or may be constant along the meridian. In embodiments where the peripheral region has a thickness profile configured to facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses, the thickness of the peripheral region may vary with the meridian. This variation in thickness profile may be caused by features disposed on the surface of the peripheral region. These features may be designed to facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses in one direction about the optical axis in response to a rotational force. When a contact lens according to an embodiment of this disclosure is being worn, the rotational force can be provided by the wearer blinking. The rotation of the eyeglasses may also be assisted by gravity acting on the eyeglasses.

[0046] Because the glasses of this disclosure are designed to rotate over the eyes when worn by a wearer, the treatment area will rotate relative to the eyes while the glasses are being worn. Therefore, while the glasses are being worn, the treatment area will overlap with different areas of the retina at different times. This is believed to reduce the eye's ability to compensate for the contrast reduction effect of the treatment area.

[0047] The first optical axis of the central region may be along the centerline of the eyeglasses. The central region can focus light from a distant object, on the first optical axis, onto a spot of light on the first optical axis at the distal focal plane. As used herein, the term "surface" does not refer to a physical surface, but rather to a surface that can be drawn through the point in which light from a distant object will be focused. This surface is also referred to as the image plane (even if it may be curved) or the image shell. The eye focuses light onto the curved retina, and in a fully focused eye, the curvature of the image shell will match the curvature of the retina. Therefore, the eye does not focus light onto a flat mathematical plane. However, in the art, the curvature of the retina is often referred to as a plane.

[0048] The peripheral region may have a thickness variation configured to facilitate lens rotation, and the thickness profile of the peripheral region may not have a mirror symmetry axis. The thickness variation of the peripheral region may vary in a non-periodic or irregular manner around all or part of the lens. The thickness variation can be selected to achieve a desired amount of contact lens rotation on the eye without significantly reducing contact lens comfort or lens awareness compared to conventional spherical contact lenses. The thickness of each region of the peripheral region can be selected using conventional methods known to those skilled in the art. The thickness and configuration can be selected to achieve a desired amount of contact lens rotation on the eye without significantly reducing contact lens comfort or lens awareness compared to conventional spherical contact lenses. For example, in the design of the peripheral region, the contact lens may be manufactured with a specific target design and thickness and clinically tested on the eye of one person. The amount of lens rotation can be observed by an eye care practitioner using a slit lamp or other conventional tools. Typically, multiple contact lenses with different thickness profiles will be manufactured and tested on the eyes of many people (e.g., 20 or more people) to evaluate lens rotation and lens comfort. If the glasses do not rotate sufficiently or if the comfort of the glasses is significantly reduced compared to the control glasses, then glasses with different thickness profiles in the peripheral area are manufactured and tested.

[0049] The peripheral region may have a thickness variation configured to facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses, wherein the thickness of the peripheral region is constant on one half of the eyeglasses and varies on the other half. The half of the eyeglasses may have a peripheral region thickness that varies in an irregular or non-periodic manner. The half of the eyeglasses may provide prism weight or peripheral weight.

[0050] The peripheral region may have a thickness variation configured to facilitate rotation of the glasses, wherein the thickness of the peripheral region varies periodically around the glasses. The peripheral region may include multiple features that alter its thickness. These features may be spaced regularly around the glasses. Each feature may have an asymmetrical profile that facilitates rotation of the glasses in one direction. The features may be aligned such that the non-rotational force of blinking is converted into a rotational force, causing the glasses to rotate in one direction. Each feature may be provided on a surface of the peripheral region. Each feature may be provided on the front surface of the peripheral region. The periodic variation may be a sine wave, a triangular wave, or a sawtooth wave. The periodic variation may span a portion of the circumference of the peripheral region, or the entire circumference of the peripheral region.

[0051] The annular region may include multiple treatment zones, separated by regions that do not significantly reduce the contrast of an image of an object viewed through the annular region compared to an image of an object viewed through the central region. The treatment zones may be arranged at regular intervals around the circumference of the annular region. Alternatively, the treatment zones may be arranged at irregular intervals around the circumference of the annular region. Each treatment zone may span between 5% and 10% of the circumference of the peripheral region. As described above, the peripheral region of the glasses allows and / or facilitates rotation of the glasses. As the glasses rotate relative to the eye when worn by the wearer, the treatment zones will align with different areas of the eye at different times, thus reducing the eye's ability to compensate for the reduction in image contrast caused by the treatment zones.

[0052] The treatment area may include a high contrast reduction region, which has the characteristic of reducing the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the treatment area and the central region by 50% or more compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region, wherein the area of ​​the high contrast reduction region is less than 50% of the area of ​​the annular region. The high contrast reduction region can reduce the contrast of the image formed by the glasses by 75% or more. The high contrast reduction region may span less than 25% of the annular region. The high contrast reduction region may be a continuous region. Multiple discontinuous high contrast reduction regions may exist.

[0053] The treatment area may further include a weak contrast-reducing region, which has the characteristic of reducing the contrast of an image of an object observed through the treatment area by 10% to 50% compared to an image of an object observed through the central region. The treatment area may include a periodic arrangement of strong contrast-reducing regions separated by the weak contrast-reducing regions. The annular region may include multiple treatment areas, some of which may be strong contrast-reducing regions and others may be weak contrast-reducing regions.

[0054] The treatment area may include an additional refractive power region having a curvature that provides additional refractive power varying with meridian. The anterior surface of the treatment area may have a radius of curvature smaller than that of the anterior surface of the central region and the remainder of the annular region. The treatment area may therefore have a refractive power greater than the basic refractive power of the central region and the remainder of the annular region. The focal point of the treatment area may be located on the proximal focal plane, and the focal point of the central region and the remainder of the annular region may be located on the distal focal plane, which is farther from the posterior surface of the eyeglass. The focal points of the focal treatment area and the central region may share a common optical axis. For a point source at infinity, the light focused by the central region and the annular region forms a focused image at the distal focal plane. The light focused by the central region also produces an unfocused blurred spot at the proximal focal plane. For each eyeglass, at least some of the additional refractive power may be provided by a curvature centered at a center of curvature at a first distance from the first optical axis. Light rays from the far point source passing through the additional refractive power region can be focused away from the first optical axis onto the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power. Light rays passing through the central region will form a coaxial blur circle at the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power. Light rays from the far point source passing through the annular region of maximum additional refractive power can be focused outside the blur circle. The central region of the eyeglasses has the fundamental refractive power. If the treatment area includes an additional refractive power region, then the net near refractive power of the treatment area will be the sum of the fundamental refractive power and the additional refractive power. The center of curvature of the additional refractive power region can be at a first distance from the first optical axis.

[0055] The treatment area of ​​the annular region has a width, and the normal to the surface of the treatment area, intercepted halfway across the width of the treatment area, intersects the normal intercepted at the center of the central region's surface curvature. The treatment area can thus focus light from each distant object to form a focusing arc at the proximal focal plane, the arc extending beyond the blurred circle formed by the light focused by the central region and in a direction surrounding the blurred circle.

[0056] The treatment portion can be configured to produce a light distribution at its focal plane, which typically replicates any strip-shaped geometry of the treatment portion. The focal plane of the treatment portion is defined by a plane passing through the point where light focused through the treatment portion is located. For example, for a treatment portion spanning a ring, a focusing arc can be generated at the focal plane of the treatment portion. The curvature of the treatment portion can be selected to position the light focused at the focal plane of the treatment portion at a distance between approximately 2 micrometers and approximately 700 micrometers from the optical axis and perpendicular to the optical axis, preferably between approximately 20 micrometers and approximately 300 micrometers.

[0057] The surface of the treatment area may be the anterior surface. The surface of the central area may be the anterior surface. The surface of the treatment area may be a surface with curvature that provides additional refractive power. The surface of the central area may be a surface with curvature that provides basic refractive power.

[0058] The eyeglasses may have a positive fundamental refractive power, and the treatment zone may have a more positive refractive power than the fundamental refractive power. In this case, the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power will be closer to the eyeglasses than the distal focal plane. Light passing through the treatment zone will not form a coaxial image. The wearer of the eyeglasses will therefore need to use their eyes' natural adaptation to focus on nearby objects. The light rays focused through the treatment may not intersect the first optical axis of the contact lens at all, or may not intersect it until after they have passed the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power.

[0059] The basic refractive power of the eyeglasses can be negative, and the treatment area can have a less negative refractive power than the basic area, or the treatment area can have positive refractive power. Considering eyeglasses positioned on the cornea, if the refractive power of the treatment area is less negative than the basic refractive power, then the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power will be further forward in the eye than the distal focal plane. Considering eyeglasses not positioned on the cornea, if the refractive power of the treatment area is positive, then the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power will be on the opposite (image) side of the eyeglasses, not the distal focal plane (which will be the virtual focal plane on the object side of the eyeglasses); if the refractive power of the treatment area is negative (but less negative than the basic refractive power), then the virtual additional refractive power focal plane will be farther from the eyeglasses than the virtual distal focal plane.

[0060] When the glasses are worn by the user, the treatment area, including the additional refractive power zone, can rotate to align with different areas of the eye because the glasses are designed to rotate relative to the eye about its optical axis. This is particularly beneficial for hydrogel and silicone hydrogel contact lenses, as it is believed that over time, the eye can adapt to blurring at the focal plane of maximum additional refractive power, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the additional refractive power treatment area and thus preventing the progression of myopia. Rotating the glasses, and thus rotating the additional refractive power zone about its optical axis, reduces the eye's ability to compensate for blurring over time. As the glasses rotate, different parts of the retina will experience different amounts of defocus, which may be more effective in slowing the progression of myopia than glasses with constant myopic defocus.

[0061] The additional refractive power region may have a curvature providing 0.5D or greater additional refractive power. The additional refractive power region may have a curvature providing a maximum additional refractive power of at least 2.0D. The treatment area may further include a lower additional refractive power region with a curvature providing a low additional refractive power between 0D and 1.5D. Light rays from the distal source passing through at least one low additional refractive power region may be focused at the lower additional refractive power focal plane. For a lens with a positive basic refractive power and a low additional refractive power region that is more positive than the basic refractive power, the low additional refractive power focal plane will be closer to the lens than the distal focal plane but farther from the lens than the maximum additional refractive power focal plane. Light rays passing through the low additional refractive power region will also not form a coaxial image. Light rays focused by the low additional refractive power region may not intersect the first optical axis of the contact lens at all, or may not intersect until they have passed the lower and maximum additional refractive power focal planes. Considering a spectacle positioned on the cornea, if the spectacle has a negative fundamental refractive power and at least one low-additional refractive power region with a refractive power less negative than the fundamental refractive power, then the lower-additional refractive power focal plane will be closer to the spectacle than the distal focal plane, but farther from the spectacle than the maximum-additional refractive power focal plane. Considering a spectacle not positioned on the cornea, if the spectacle has a negative fundamental refractive power and at least one low-additional refractive power region with a refractive power less negative than the fundamental refractive power, then the virtual additional refractive power focal plane will be farther from the spectacle than the virtual distal focal plane, but closer to the spectacle than the virtual maximum-additional refractive power focal plane. The center of curvature of the additional refractive power region may be at a first distance from a first optical axis, and the center of curvature of the low-additional refractive power region may be at a second distance from the first optical axis.

[0062] The annular region may include at least one basic refractive power region, the at least one basic refractive power region having a curvature that provides the basic refractive power and is centered on the curvature center of the central region.

[0063] The curvature providing any one of the basic refractive power, maximum additional refractive power, and low additional refractive power can be the curvature of the anterior surface of the eyeglasses. The curvature providing the basic refractive power, maximum additional refractive power, and intermediate additional refractive power can be the curvature of the posterior surface of the eyeglasses. The curvature providing the basic refractive power, maximum additional refractive power, and intermediate additional refractive power can be the curvature of the anterior and posterior surfaces of the eyeglasses that provide a combined effect.

[0064] The treatment area may include features that increase the scattering of light passing through the treatment area compared to light passing through the central region. These features may be disposed on the front surface of the annular region. The treatment area of ​​each eyepiece may include optical elements burned into or etched into the surface of the eyepiece. The increased scattering of light passing through the treatment area will reduce the contrast of the image formed by light passing through both the treatment area and the central region compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central region. As the eyepiece rotates relative to the eye about a first optical axis, the treatment area and therefore the high-scattering area will rotate about the first optical axis. This reduces the eye's ability to compensate for the contrast reduction caused by scattering.

[0065] The treatment area may have properties that cause light passing through it to diffract.

[0066] The contact lens may be generally circular in shape and have a diameter between about 4 mm and about 20 mm, preferably between about 13.0 mm and 15.0 mm. As used herein, diameter refers to chord diameter. The center thickness of the lens may be between about 50 micrometers and about 300 micrometers. The peripheral region of the lens may have a thickness between about 50 micrometers and about 450 micrometers. The thickness of the lens can be measured using conventional techniques and instruments, such as a Reid gauge. The central region may be generally circular in shape and have a diameter between about 2 mm and 9 mm, preferably and more preferably between about 2 mm and 5 mm. The central region may be generally elliptical in shape. The basic curve may have a radius of curvature between about 8.0 mm and 9.0 mm. The annular region may extend radially outward from the periphery of the central region by about 0.1 mm to 4 mm, preferably between about 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm. For example, the radial width of the annular region can be from about 0.1 mm to about 4 mm, and preferably from about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm. The periphery of the central region can define the boundary between the central region and the annular region, and therefore the annular region can be adjacent to the central region.

[0067] The annular region of each eyepiece may be adjacent to the central region. A blending region may be provided between the central region and the annular region. The blending region should not substantially affect the optical properties provided by the central region and the annular region, and the blending region may have a radial width of 0.05 mm or less, although in some embodiments it may be as wide as 0.2 mm or 0.5 mm.

[0068] The annular region may extend radially outward to adjoin the peripheral region. The treatment area may span the radial width of the annular region.

[0069] The central region has a fundamental refractive power, which is defined herein as the mean absolute refractive power of the central region. Any meridian of fundamental refractive power will also have the fundamental refractive power. The fundamental refractive power will correspond to the marked refractive power of a contact lens as provided on a contact lens package (although it may not actually have the same value). Therefore, the spectacle refractive power given herein is nominal refractive power. These values ​​may differ from spectacle refractive power values ​​obtained by directly measuring the spectacle and reflect the spectacle refractive power used to provide the required prescription refractive power for ophthalmic treatment.

[0070] For eyeglasses used to treat myopia, the basic refractive power will be negative or close to zero, and the central area will correct hyperopia. The basic refractive power can be between 0.5 diopters (D) and -15.0 diopters. The basic refractive power can range from -0.25D to -15.0D.

[0071] The glasses may include at least two concentric annular regions, each of which includes a treatment area that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment area, compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region. The contrast reduction varies with the meridians surrounding the annular regions.

[0072] Preferably, the treatment area or the treatment area does not contain a microlens, or the annular region does not contain a microlens (i.e., a microlens provided on the surface of the contact lens with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the optical area of ​​the contact lens).

[0073] The peripheral region of the eyeglasses may include at least two concentric regions configured to facilitate thickness variations that promote rotation of the eyeglass region. Each concentric region may have the same or different thickness variations. Each concentric region may have periodic thickness variations, in which case the variations of adjacent concentric regions may be in phase or out of phase.

[0074] The contact lens may be a toroidal contact lens. For example, the toroidal contact lens may include an optical zone shaped to correct the astigmatism of the individual.

[0075] The contact lens may comprise an elastomer material, a silicone elastomer material, a hydrogel material, or a silicone hydrogel material, or a combination thereof. As understood in the field of contact lens technology, a hydrogel is a material that maintains water in equilibrium and is free of silicone chemicals. A silicone hydrogel is a hydrogel containing silicone chemicals. As described herein, the hydrogel material and the silicone hydrogel material have an equilibrium water content (EWC) of at least 10% to about 90% (wt / wt). In some embodiments, the hydrogel material or the silicone hydrogel material has an EWC of from about 30% to about 70% (wt / wt). In contrast, as described herein, the silicone elastomer material has a water content of from about 0% to less than 10% (wt / wt). Typically, the silicone elastomer material incorporated in this method or apparatus has a water content of from 0.1% to 3% (wt / wt). Examples of suitable eyeglass formulations include those with the following US Generic Names (USAN): metafilcon A, ocufilcon A, ocufilcon B, ocufilcon C, ocufilcon D, omafilcon A, omafilcon B, comfilcon A, enfilcon A, stenfilcon A, fanfilcon A, etafilcon A, senofilcon A, senofilcon B, senofilcon C, narafilcon A, narafilcon B, balafilcon A, samfilcon A, lotrafilcon A, lotrafilcon B, somofilcon A, riofilcon A, delefilcon A, verofilcon A, kalifilcon A, and similar.

[0076] Alternatively, the eyeglasses may include, be essentially composed of, or consist of a silicone elastomer material. For example, the eyeglasses may include, be essentially composed of, or consist of a silicone elastomer material having a Shore A hardness from 3 to 50. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the Shore A hardness can be determined using conventional methods (e.g., using method DIN 53505). Other silicone elastomer materials, for example, are available from NuSil Technology or Dow Chemical Company.

[0077] According to a second aspect, this disclosure provides a method of manufacturing eyeglasses. The method may include forming a contact lens, wherein the eyeglass includes: a central region having a fundamental refractive power; and an annular region surrounding the central region. The annular region includes a treatment area having a property that reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment area compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region. The property causing the contrast reduction varies with the meridians surrounding the annular region. The peripheral region has a constant thickness profile in each meridian or is configured to facilitate thickness variations that promote rotation of the eyeglasses.

[0078] The eyeglasses may include any of the features stated above.

[0079] The manufacturing method may include forming a female mold component having a concave lens forming surface and a male mold component having a convex lens forming surface. The method may include filling the gap between the female and male mold components with a block-shaped eyeglass material. The method may further include curing the block-shaped eyeglass material to form the eyeglasses.

[0080] The contact lens may be formed using a turning process. The lens may be formed by a casting process, a rotational casting process, or a turning process, or a combination thereof. As understood by those skilled in the art, casting refers to molding the lens by placing lens forming material between a female mold member having a concave lens member forming surface and a male mold member having a convex lens member forming surface.

[0081] In a third aspect of this disclosure, a method of using the contact lenses described herein is also provided. The method effectively reduces the progression of refractive errors, such as myopia. The method effectively reduces axial length progression. When the contact lenses are used to reduce myopia progression, the method includes the step of providing the contact lenses to an individual whose eyes are adapted to varying near distances (e.g., within a range from about 15 cm to about 40 cm). Some embodiments of the method include the step of providing ophthalmic lenses to individuals aged about 5 to about 25 years. This provision may be performed by an eye care practitioner, such as an optician or optometrist. Alternatively, the provision may be performed by an eyewear distributor who arranges delivery of the ophthalmic lenses to the wearer.

[0082] Figure 3A schematic top view of eyeglasses 1 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of this disclosure is shown. Eyeglasses 1 includes an optical zone 2 that substantially covers the pupil and a peripheral zone 4 located above the iris. The peripheral zone 4 provides mechanical functions, including increasing the size of the eyeglasses to make them easier to handle, and providing a shaped area to improve the comfort of the wearer. The peripheral zone 4 has a constant thickness profile and does not contain any thickness variation, and therefore does not provide any weight, and thus the eyeglasses 1 will rotate about its optical axis in response to rotational forces (in a clockwise direction indicated by arrow 6, or in the opposite direction). The optical zone 2 provides the optical functionality of the eyeglasses 1, and the optical zone includes an annular region 3 and a central region 5. The annular region 3 includes a treatment zone 7, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone, compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region 5. This eyeglasses 1 has positive base refractive power, and the radius of curvature of the anterior surface of the treatment zone 7 is smaller than the radius of curvature of the anterior surface of the central region 5. Treatment area 7 therefore has a refractive power greater than that of the central area 5. When the wearer wears glasses 1, glasses 1 will rotate in response to the rotational force applied to glasses 1 when the wearer blinks. This causes treatment area 7 to rotate. Treatment area 7 thus moves to coincide with a different area of ​​the eye. This will reduce the eye's ability to compensate for the contrast reduction caused by treatment area 7.

[0083] Figure 4(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 101 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical zone 102 of the eyeglasses 101 is similar to... Figure 1 The optical zone of the eyeglasses shown includes a central region 105 surrounded by an annular region 103. The annular region 103 includes a treatment zone 107, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone, compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central region 105. The peripheral region 104 includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 109a, 109b, 109c disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 101 and arranged at regular intervals around the circumference of the eyeglasses 101. The weights 109a, 109b, 109c facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses 101. Each weight has a thicker portion 110 and a thinner portion 112, and a smooth, curved upper surface that causes a continuously varying thickness, as shown in FIG4(b). The weights are arranged around the circumference of the peripheral region 104 to bias the eyeglasses 101 to rotate clockwise about a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 106. If the wearer of glasses 101 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 109a, 109b, and 109c, thereby causing glasses 101 to rotate.

[0084] Figure 5(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 201 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical zone 202 of the eyeglasses 201 is similar to... Figure 3 The optical zone of the eyeglasses shown in Figure 4 includes a central zone 205 surrounded by an annular zone 203. The annular zone 203 includes a treatment zone 207, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central zone and the treatment zone, compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central zone 205. The peripheral zone 204 includes a plurality of prism-shaped weights 209a, 209b, 209c disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 201 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the eyeglasses 201. The weights 209a, 209b, 209c facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses 201 in the direction indicated by arrow 206. Each prism-shaped weight 209a, 209b, 209c has a thick portion and a thin portion, as shown in Figure 5(b). However, unlike the seed-shaped weights 109a, 109b, 109c in Figures 4(a) and (b), prisms 209a, 209b, 209c include a flat, straight surface, which can assist in the controlled rotation of the eyeglasses 201.

[0085] Figure 6(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 301 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical zone 302 of the eyeglasses 301 is similar to... Figures 1 to 3 The optical zone of the eyeglasses shown includes a central region 305 surrounded by an annular region 303. The annular region 303 includes a treatment zone 307, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone, compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region 305. The peripheral region includes a continuous band 309 with a periodically varying thickness profile. The periodically varying thickness profile includes multiple peaks spaced apart around the circumference of the peripheral region. The position around the circumference of the eyeglasses is defined by an angle θ, where θ varies between 0° and 360° (as shown in FIG. 6(a)). The continuous band 309 has a peak 310 in thickness every 60 degrees, as shown in FIG. 6(b). To facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses in the direction indicated by arrow 306, each peak 310 has an asymmetrical profile, which facilitates rotation of the eyeglasses 301 in the direction indicated by arrow 313 in FIG. 6(b).

[0086] Figure 7(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 901 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical zone 902 of the eyeglasses 901 is similar to... Figure 3The optical zone of the eyeglasses shown includes a central region 905 surrounded by an annular region 903. The annular region 903 includes a treatment zone 907, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zone, compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central region 905. The peripheral region 904 includes a plurality of weights 909a, 909b, 909c disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 901 and arranged at regular intervals around the circumference of the eyeglasses 901. The weights 909a, 909b, 909c extend in the radial direction. Similar to the seed-shaped weights in Figure 4, each weight 909a, 909b, and 909c has a continuously varying thickness profile along line YY, as shown in Figure 7(c), having a thicker portion 910 and a thinner portion 912. The weights 909a, 909b, and 909c are arranged around the circumference of the outer region 904 to facilitate rotation of the glasses 901 in the direction of arrow 906. Additionally, each weight 909a, 909b, and 909c has a varying thickness profile along line XX (as shown in Figure 7(b)), having a thicker portion 911 towards the center of the glasses 901 and a thinner portion 913 towards the outer edge of the outer region 904.

[0087] Figure 8(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 401 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical zone 402 of the eyeglasses 401 is similar to... Figure 3The optical zone of the eyeglasses shown in Figure 7 includes a central zone 405 surrounded by an annular zone 403. The annular zone 403 includes a treatment zone 407, which reduces the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central zone and the treatment zone, compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central zone 405. The peripheral zone includes two concentric zones 414, 416 separated by a region having a constant thickness profile 415, each concentric zone having a periodically varying thickness profile. Each concentric zone 414, 416 includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', 409c' disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 101 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the eyeglasses 101. These weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', 409c' facilitate rotation of the eyeglasses 401. Weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', and 409c' each have a thicker portion 410 and a thinner portion 412, and a smooth, curved outer surface that causes a continuously varying thickness, as shown in Figure 8(b). For each of the concentric regions 414 and 416, weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', and 409c' are arranged at regular intervals around the outer region, but the weights 409a, 409b, and 409c in the first region 414 are out of phase with those in the second region 416. Weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', and 409c' bias the eyeglass 401 to rotate clockwise about a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 406. If the wearer of glasses 401 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 409a, 409b, 409c, 409a', 409b', and 409c', thereby causing glasses 401 to rotate.

[0088] In other embodiments of this disclosure, the weights placed on the concentric regions of the peripheral region may be in phase with respect to each concentric region.

[0089] Figure 9A schematic top view of eyeglasses 501 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Optical region 502 includes a central region 505 surrounded by an annular region 503. The annular region 503 includes a plurality of treatment zones 507a, 507b, 507c, 507d, which reduce the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zones compared to an image formed by light passing only through the central region 505. Between the treatment zones 507a, 507b, 507c, 507d, there are regions that do not significantly reduce the contrast of an image formed by light passing through the eyeglasses 501. A peripheral region 504 includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 509a, 509b, 509c, and 509d disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 501 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the eyeglasses 501. These weights 509a, 509b, 509c, and 509d promote the clockwise rotation of the glasses 501 about a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 506. If the wearer of the glasses 501 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 509a, 509b, 509c, and 509d, thereby causing the glasses 501 to rotate. As the glasses 501 rotates about the first optical axis in response to the rotational force, the treatment areas 507a, 507b, 507c, and 507d will coincide with different areas of the eye. This reduces the eye's ability to compensate for the decrease in contrast caused by the treatment areas 507a, 507b, 507c, and 507d.

[0090] Figure 10A schematic top view of eyeglasses 601 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Optical region 602 includes a central region 605 surrounded by an annular region 603. The annular region 603 includes a plurality of treatment zones 607a, 607b, 607c, 607d that increase the scattering of light passing through the treatment zones, thereby reducing the contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zones compared to an image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region 605. Each treatment zone 607a, 607b, 607c, 607d includes a plurality of scattering elements 608a, 608b, 608c burned into the front surface of a peripheral region 604. Between the treatment zones 607a, 607b, 607c, 607d, there exists a region that does not significantly reduce the contrast of the image formed by light passing through the eyeglasses 601. The peripheral region 604 includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 609a, 609b, 609c disposed on the front surface of the eyeglasses 601 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the eyeglasses 601. These weights 609a, 609b, 609c facilitate clockwise rotation of the eyeglasses 601 about a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 606. If the wearer of the eyeglasses 601 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 609a, 609b, 609c, thereby causing the eyeglasses 601 to rotate. As the eyeglasses 601 rotates about the first optical axis in response to the rotational force, the treatment areas 607a, 607b, 607c, 607d will coincide with different areas of the eye. This reduces the eye's ability to compensate for the increased light scattering caused by the treatment areas 607a, 607b, 607c, 607d.

[0091] Figure 11(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 701 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical region 702 includes a central region 705 surrounded by an annular region 703. The central region 705 has a curvature that provides basic refractive power and is centered on a center of curvature on a first optical axis 718. This is illustrated in Figure 11(b), a schematic cross-section through the optical region of the eyeglasses taken along line AA.

[0092] The annular region 703 includes multiple treatment zones 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d. Each treatment zone 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d has a curvature that provides additional refractive power. The radius of curvature of the anterior surface of treatment zones 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d is smaller than the radius of curvature of the anterior surface of the central region 705. Therefore, treatment zones 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d have a refractive power greater than the basic refractive power of the central region 705. As shown in Figure 11(b), the focal point 725 of treatment zones 707b and 707d is located on the proximal focal plane 722, and the focal point 726 of the central region 705 is located on the distal focal plane 724, which is farther from the posterior surface of the eyeglass 701. The focal points 725 of treatment areas 707b and 707d and the focal point 724 of central area 705 share a common optical axis 718. For a point source at infinity, the light rays focused by central area 705 form a focused image at the distal focal plane 724. The light rays focused by central area 705 also produce an unfocused, blurred spot at the proximal focal plane 722. The light rays focused by treatment areas 707b and 707d form a focused image at the proximal focal plane 722. The light rays 720 focused by treatment areas 707b and 707d diverge after the proximal focal plane 722.

[0093] Compared to the image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region 705, the additional refractive power treatment zones 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d reduce the contrast of the image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zones. Between the treatment zones 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d, there exists a region that does not significantly reduce the contrast of the image formed by light passing through the glasses 701. The peripheral region includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 709a, 709b, and 709c disposed on the front surface of the glasses 701 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the glasses 701. These weights 709a, 709b, and 709c facilitate clockwise rotation of the glasses 701 about a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 706. If the wearer of the glasses 701 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 709a, 709b, and 709c, thereby causing the glasses 701 to rotate. As the glasses 701 rotate around the first optical axis in response to the rotational force, the treatment areas 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d will overlap with different areas of the eye. This reduces the eye's ability to compensate for the defocusing effect of the treatment areas 707a, 707b, 707c, and 707d.

[0094] Figure 12(a) shows a schematic top view of eyeglasses 801 for mitigating the progression of myopia (e.g., myopia control) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The optical region 802 includes a central region 805 surrounded by an annular region 803. The central region 805 has a curvature that provides basic refractive power and is centered on a center of curvature on a first optical axis 818. This is illustrated in Figure 12(b), a schematic cross-section of the eyeglasses taken along line BB.

[0095] The annular region 803 includes multiple treatment zones 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d. Each treatment zone 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d has a curvature that provides additional refractive power. The radius of curvature of the anterior surface of treatment zones 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d (indicated by dashed circles) is smaller than the radius of curvature of the anterior surface of the central region 805. Treatment zones 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d therefore have a refractive power greater than the basic refractive power of the central region 805. As shown in Figure 12(b), the anterior surface of the central region 805 defines a portion of the surface of a sphere with a radius of 828 (indicated by a dashed circle). The anterior surfaces of treatment zones 807b and 807d define curved annular surfaces with a radius of curvature 829.

[0096] like Figure 12(b) and 12(c) As shown, at the distal focal plane 824, light rays passing through the central region 805 are focused. No single image is formed at the proximal focal plane 822. At the proximal focal plane 822, light rays passing through the central region 805 produce a blurred circle for a point source at infinity. However, light rays from the distal source passing through treatment areas 807b and 807d produce a focused arc surrounding the blurred circle.

[0097] Compared to the image of an object formed by light passing only through the central region 805, the additional refractive power treatment zones 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d reduce the contrast of the image of an object formed by light passing through both the central region and the treatment zones. Between the treatment zones 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d, there exists a region that does not significantly reduce the contrast of the image formed by light passing through the glasses 801. The peripheral region includes a plurality of seed-shaped weights 809a, 809b, and 809c disposed on the front surface of the glasses 801 and regularly arranged around the circumference of the glasses 801. These weights 809a, 809b, and 809c promote clockwise rotation of the glasses 801 around a first optical axis, as indicated by arrow 806. If the wearer of the glasses 801 blinks, their eyelids will exert a rotational force on the weights 809a, 809b, and 809c, thereby causing the glasses 801 to rotate. As the glasses 801 rotate around the first optical axis in response to the rotational force, the treatment areas 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d will overlap with different areas of the eye. This reduces the eye's ability to compensate for the defocusing effect of the treatment areas 807a, 807b, 807c, and 807d.

[0098] In an example embodiment (not shown), the eyeglasses may include a plurality of concentric annular regions, each annular region including at least one treatment area. The concentric annular regions may be separated by a region having the basic refractive power of the central region.

[0099] It should be understood that glasses can be provided for the wearer to wear on the right eye and glasses for the wearer to wear on the left eye. Consider a pair of glasses (right eye and left eye glasses) to be worn on a given date. Both glasses may have treatment areas spanning the same half or quadrant of a ring-shaped region. For example, both glasses may have treatment areas spanning the temporal half of the glasses, targeting the nasal retina. The treatment area of ​​the right eye glasses will produce a strong contrast reduction effect on the left retina of the right eye. The treatment area of ​​the left eye glasses will produce a strong contrast reduction effect on the right retina of the left eye. Accordingly, the right eye glasses will produce a weak contrast reduction effect on the right retina of the right eye, and the left eye glasses will produce a weak contrast reduction effect on the left retina of the left eye. The brain will receive signals from both eyes and two areas of the retina, but the weakly contrast-reduced image will dominate the binocular neural image in the cortex. Therefore, at the perceptual level, image degradation can be avoided during normal binocular observation.

[0100] Figure 3 The embodiments shown in Figure 8 illustrate example features that affect the rotation of the glasses and fall within the scope of this disclosure. Figures 9 to 1 The embodiments shown in Figure 2 illustrate example annular regions falling within the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the features of these example embodiments can be combined in other embodiments falling within the scope of this disclosure.

[0101] While references have been made in the foregoing description to elements or components having known obvious or foreseeable equivalents, such equivalents are incorporated herein as individually stated. The true scope of this disclosure should be determined with reference to the claims, which should be construed as covering any such equivalents. The reader should also understand that elements or features of this disclosure described as advantageous, convenient, or similar are optional and do not limit the scope of the independent claims. Furthermore, it should be understood that such optional elements or features, while potentially beneficial in some embodiments of this disclosure, may not be desirable and therefore may not be present in other embodiments.

Claims

1. A contact lens for use in preventing or slowing progression or worsening of myopia, the lens comprising an optical zone and a peripheral zone surrounding the optical zone, the optical zone including: a central region having a first optical axis and a curvature centered at a center of curvature on the first optical axis providing a base optical power; an annular region, wherein the annular region circumferentially surrounds the central region, and wherein the annular region includes a treatment zone having a property that reduces contrast of an image of an object formed by light passing through the central region and the treatment zone compared to an image of the object formed by light passing through only the central region, wherein the property causing the contrast reduction varies with meridians around the annular region; the peripheral zone has a constant thickness profile in each meridian or is configured to promote rotation of the lens with a thickness variation; and the treatment zone includes an additional power region having a curvature providing an additional optical power, the treatment zone having a width, and normals to a surface of the treatment zone half way across the width of the treatment zone intersect normals taken at the center of curvature of a surface of the central region, wherein the treatment zone thereby focuses light from each distant object object to form a focused arc at a near focal plane, the arc extending outside a blur circle formed by light focused by the central region and in a direction around the blur circle.

2. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the peripheral zone has a thickness variation configured to promote rotation of the lens, and wherein the thickness profile of the peripheral zone has no mirror symmetry axis.

3. The contact lens of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the peripheral zone has a thickness variation configured to promote rotation of the lens, and wherein the thickness of the peripheral zone is constant on one half of the lens and varies on the other half of the lens.

4. The contact lens of claim 3, wherein the variation on the other half of the lens provides a prismatic weight on the half of the lens.

5. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the peripheral zone has a thickness variation configured to promote rotation of the lens, and wherein the thickness of the peripheral zone varies periodically around the lens.

6. The contact lens of claim 5, wherein the periodic variation is a sine wave, a triangle wave, or a sawtooth wave.

7. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, or 6, wherein the annular region includes a plurality of treatment zones separated by regions that do not significantly reduce contrast of an image of an object viewed through the annular region compared to the image of the object viewed through the central region.

8. The contact lens of claim 7, wherein the treatment zones are arranged at regular intervals around a circumference of the annular region.

9. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, or 6, wherein the treatment zone includes a strong contrast reduction region having a property of reducing contrast of an image of an object viewed through the treatment zone by 50% or more as compared to the image of the object viewed through the central region, wherein an area of the strong contrast reduction region is less than 50% of an area of the annular region.

10. The contact lens of claim 8, wherein the treatment zone further includes a weaker contrast reduction region having a property of reducing contrast of an image of an object viewed through the treatment zone by between 10% and 50% as compared to the image of the object viewed through the central region.

11. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the additional power region has a curvature that provides an additional power of 0.5 D or more.

12. The contact lens of claim 11, wherein the additional power region has a curvature that provides a maximum additional power of at least 2.0 D, and wherein the treatment zone further includes a lower additional power region having a curvature that provides a low additional power of between 0 D and 1.5 D.

13. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the annular region can include at least one base power region having the curvature that provides the base power and is centered on the center of curvature of the central region.

14. The contact lens of claim 11 or 12, wherein the curvature is a curvature of an anterior surface of the lens.

15. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the central region is substantially circular in shape and has a diameter of between 2 mm and 7 mm.

16. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the annular region extends radially outwardly from a periphery of the central region by between 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm.

17. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the base power is between 0.5 D and -15.0 D.

18. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the lens comprises an elastomeric material, a silicone elastomeric material, a hydrogel material, or a silicone hydrogel material, or a mixture thereof.

19. The contact lens of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, or 12, wherein the lens is formed using a turning process.

20. A method of reducing progression of myopia, comprising: providing a myopic person capable of accommodating for varying near distances with a contact lens according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

Images